


To Build and to Cherish.

by TayBartlett9000



Category: British Royalty RPF, Historical RPF, The Crown (TV)
Genre: Brotherhood, Christmas, Commonwealth, Gen, God - Freeform, Great Britain, Speach, christmas day, royal family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 16:11:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16790311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TayBartlett9000/pseuds/TayBartlett9000
Summary: Elizabeth broadcasts her Christmas message to the nation.





	To Build and to Cherish.

25 December, 1957.

Elizabeth sat before the glare of the cameras, mustering up the courage needed to face the most difficult Christmas broadcast she had ever partaken in. The lights were bright, the tentions were rising and Elizabeth wondered for the fifth time in as many minutes whether the idea of a television broadcast on this important day was in fact a good one.

She had never appeared in front of the television cameras on her own to broadcast a speech before. True, her coronation had been televised. Indeed, it had been the first televised coronation ever to be broadcast to the people of Britain and the Commonwealth, but that had been a completely different matter. She had to speak directly to the nation this time.

Elizabeth had never much liked being in the spotlight. This was partially why being queen was a demanding job and a complex task to undertake day after day. Elizabeth would have preferred to be a simple English housewife, caring for her children and living as normal a life as her subjects did. But, she was queen. With the role of queen, came the duty to do one’s job to the best of One’s ability and she knew that she was more than capable of delivering a good speech.

She had rehursed it for a long time, making sure that the words echoed her own feelings about where her country and Commonwealth was at this current time. While the political situation was presently fraught with difficulty, she felt the need to reassure her people that all was well and would be well for a long time to come, that she would not allow anything to negatively impact the lives of the British public. Her duty to her people was one of the first things her father had taught her, and Elizabeth intended to honour that.

“Are you ready, your majesty?” one of the men from the bbc said quietly, “if you’re ready, we’ll start now.”

Looking up and mastering her resolve, Elizabeth nodded. She was as ready as she was ever likely to be.

The cameras started rolling and Elizabeth cleared her throat, voice sounding far stronger than she thought it would as she started to speak.

“Happy Christmas,” she began, panick easing a little as she thought over what she had to say. “Twenty five years ago, My grandfather broadcast the first of these Christmas messages. Today is another landmark because television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas day.”

Elizabeth thought over that simple statement. She remembered the first of her beloved grandfather’s Christmas messages. She had been a little girl of six and yet that memory was clear. She had imagined the people of this great nation listening on their radios to every word her grandfather spoke, and now the people of that same nation were listening to her words and watching her broadcast live. It was indeed a great and important landmark.

“My own family often gather round to watch television as they are at this moment, and this is how I imagine you now.”

This was precisely what she was imagioning. Elizabeth only knew the halls and coridors of a few houses, the halls of her childhood home in York cottage, Clarence house, the home she had made with her beloved Philip and now the endless coridors of Buckingham palace. What kinds of lives were her people living? What trditions did her people partake in on festive occasions such as these? Doubtless, they were sitting around the kitchen table, preparing to eat a meal that others in less well off countries could not enjoy. Elizabeth would more than likely partake in a Christmas lunch herself, though her children had opened their own presents at Sandringham house yesterday afternoon. Christmas eve was for the family. Christmas day was for the people.

She continued to speak, her resolve growing stronger as she told her nation’s people about the plans for Britain’s Commonwealth and the brotherhood that she hoped to create as the years went on.

“Today,” she said, “we need a special kind of courage. Not the kind needed in battle but the kind that makes us stand up for everything that we know is right, everything that is true and honest. We need the kind that can withstand the subtle corruption of the cynics so that we can show the world that we are not afraid of the future.” She smiled slightly as she took a breath and prepared to continue. She liked this part. Elizabeth really did have good speech writers. “It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult. This is why we can take pride in the new Commonwealth we are building.”

As she spoke, Elizabeth felt the connection with her people that she had hoped to feel. Upon first realising that she would have to appear on television, she had not been at all sure about it. A traditionalist by heart, Elizabeth too had been wary of bringing the nation closer to the inner workings and home of her family, but now she could see the benefit of it.

“In the old days,” she continued, smiling into the camera, “the monarch led his soldiers on the battlefield and his leadership at all times was close and personal. Today things are very different. I cannot lead you into battle, I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else. I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.

She liked that line in particular, because despite her modesty of spirit and wish to remain as private as possible, Elizabeth did wish for that. A queen could only rule if she gave her heart and soul to the nation. She intended to do this, and she hoped that thus far and further into the future, she would do it well.

At last, she was nearing the end of this speech. “I hope that 1958 may bring you God’s blessing and everything you hope for,” she said with a genuine smile, “and so I wish you all, young and old, wherever you may be, all the fun and enjoyment, and the peace of a very happy Christmas.”

It was over, just like that. The cameras were switched off and the broadcast ended.

The queen of Great Britain and the Commonwealth stood, glad that she had done her job well. She acknowledged the congratulations of the people around her and made her way from the room, preparing to return to Philip and her children who were doubtless waiting for her return. The rest of this glorious God given day was for her and her family to share as they wished. She had done her duty to her nation.

Walking back to the parlour, she guessed that her beloved father would have been proud of her. He too had known what doing his duty meant, even if he had not at all wanted the crown. Elizabeth herself had not wanted the crown, but now that she had it, she had to admit gratitude. It was a blessing to have the power and ability to bring the nation happiness on this day. It truly was a good thing to be queen, no matter the difficulty.


End file.
